My Extra Stuff, Up for Grabs

I moved back from Mexico recently and unloaded all the stuff that was crammed into our storage facility. I’m talking all the things that were formerly occupying a good-sized house before we left with just a few suitcases.

After living a simpler life, an American house crammed with possessions has been a strange change. I have too much stuff. I’m not a pack rat, but I get a lot of gear to review because I run Practical Travel Gear and once in a while I need to purge. My pain could be your gain.

To get any of the items below, send your preference to the e-mail address that follows, along with the proof of one of the actions listed at the bottom. None take much effort, so this could be an easy score.

1) Eagle Creek convertible laptop bag

I like this Eagle Creek Global Commuter bag pictured at the top and I wrote a nice review of it (follow that link), but after trying it out on two trips I put it away and haven’t used it since. That’s just because of personal preference: I like keeping my laptop in a backpack because I can carry all my other stuff in there as well and I’m not advertising my wealth in cheap countries.

This one is really nice though, so chime in if it’s your style. It can be carried by hand, as a backpack, or as a messenger bag. It’s checkpoint-friendly, so you can just zip it open for the security theater at the airport.

2) Collector’s item laptop sleeve from Woolrich

This is a rare laptop sleeve made in signature thick Woolrich red and black patterned wool. Again, I like this, but I just don’t use it. A PR person from Woolrich gave it to me at a trade show and it would really make a statement to pull this wool laptop sleeve out in a coffee shop in Burlington, Montreal, or Seattle. But for the foreseeable future I’m living in warm and sunny places…

You can’t buy this sleeve in a store. It’s something they made special in the factory for a giveaway. It fits 13-inch laptops and netbooks.

3) Briggs & Riley Excursion Field Bag for the iPad

Think of this Excursion Field Bag as the modern version of the man purse, a quality item for carrying around your iPad, tablet, or Kindle, plus a phone, pocket camera, some pens, and other items. This is a great flashpacker daypack with a lot of cool features, guaranteed for life as all Briggs & Riley products are. I’ve got nothing bad to say about this tote except that I don’t have an iPad and don’t intend to buy one. Yeah okay, if I win one somewhere maybe I’ll start pining for this bag I gave away, but sometimes you’ve gotta let go.

4) Eagle Creek Tailfeather

My review of this Eagle Creek Tailfeather tote said “don’t call it a fanny pack,” because those words didn’t appear in any of the marketing material or tags. But let’s face it, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who like these carriers and those who don’t. I’m all for logic and practicality, but I haven’t pulled this back out since I first wrote about it, so it’s all yours if you want to give it a good home. It would be great for biking, hiking, or other pursuits where you need your hands and a should strap isn’t practical.

5) PodFlex Pro Flexible iPhone, iPod, Touch holder

This flexible smart Touch/iPhone stand is cool and it works well (see the full review and photos here: PodFlex Pro), but I don’t really watch videos on a tiny screen ever. If you do, you can use this on an airplane tray table, in the seat pocket, or on a nightstand, leaving your hands free.

How to get your free sh*t

I want engaged readers to get these rewards, so do one of the following you haven’t done already, then forward me the e-mail confirmation or the screen shot to prove you did. Send it to beach (at) perceptivetravel.com and include your shipping address. U.S. addresses only—sorry! I have to pay to send all this and don’t want to deal with customs.

– Subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog OR

– Subscribe to the RSS feed of PracticalTravelGear.com OR

– Follow PracticalTravelGear.com on Facebook

If you’re the rare creature that’s done all three already, then show me that. Send it to beach (at) perceptivetravel.com.

Deadline for entries is August 26, 2011 at midnight EST because I need to get this stuff out of my cluttered office. When there’s more than one request for an item, the winner will be picked at random. Items will ship by whatever method will get them there the cheapest after I notify winners the following week.

Update, August 29: We have winners! The following were picked at random from the requests for specific items. One item got no entries and has been re-gifted to a relative. You don’t enter, you can’t score!

This is cousin Esther…
I want to complement you on all you are doing to alert traveler wannabees on how to travel without a big wad of dollars. I don’t need your “stuff” but do recommend you email Dori at dnewmanny [at] gmail since she started her own web page and promotes and writes about the great businesses of her friends. She has an amazing group of friends and contacts who could greatly benefit from your websites and books. I will tell her to reach out to you as well.
Welcome back to the US. When larry and I get down to Florida we will see about getting to the west coast to see you and the family and Miriam.